Aimée Campton

Aimée Campton or Miss Campton (6 April 1882 – 21 November 1930) was a dancer, music hall artist, postcard beauty

Biography

Born in Brighton in 1882 as Emily Strahan Cager, the illegitimate daughter of domestic servant Emily Cager and raised in London, she arrived as a dancer in one of the first of Tiller Girls troupes to visit Paris at the time of the Exposition Universelle of 1900 and would never leave again. Her lively on-stage character and English accent while speaking French greatly amused audiences at the Folies Bergère. Less than two months later in February 1901 their only daughter Renée Petitdemange (1901-1993) was born. The couple divorced in April 1905.

Campton appeared in a number of 'breeches roles',

In 1917 Campton appeared in Ou Campe-t-on? at the Théâtre des Capucines in a revue the title of which was pun on her name, demonstrating her fame at this time. After World War I Campton's career began to fail. In 1921 she had a supporting role in the revue Ça va? at the Théâtre de Paris, while in 1922 she failed in the lead role in the revue Va l’dire à... Gênes! at La Cigale, with some critics believing her poor grasp of the French language had been an obstacle which audiences earlier in her career had found delightful. In 1923 she appeared in Blanc et Noir at the Théâtre des Variétés and in the same year at the same theatre she had a supporting part in Un Jour de Folie by André Birabeau. After these appearances she retired from the stage. director and owner of the Folies Bergère and appeared here regularly before gradually stopping performing on stage. It was at their home on rue Alphonse-de-Neuville in the 17th arrondissement of Paris that she died in 1930 at the age of 48 following a long illness with cancer.

Aimée Campton was buried on 25 November 1930 in the Derval family vault at Montmartre Cemetery, after a religious ceremony at the Church of St. Francis de Sales in Paris. In 1931 her jewels, furs, rings and string of 95 pearls were auctioned.